The season started on 25 February at Losail, and finished on 8 October at Magny-Cours after 12 rounds and 24 races.
The original season calendar issued by the FIM included a 13th round scheduled in South Africa on 22 October but the round was cancelled at the request of the series' promoter FGSport.
[1] 2006 saw the return of Australian Troy Bayliss in Superbike World Championship after 3 years in MotoGP.
The combination of Bayliss and Ducati proved unstoppable and they dominated the season winning 12 races, 8 of them consecutive.
Honda's James Toseland and Yamaha's Noriyuki Haga battled for second with the British rider coming on top.